For various reasons, wrist watches are undesirable for many people. Some are allergic to metal bands, others simply find watch straps to be uncomfortable. During many common activities, a wrist watch will be exposed to moisture, or other corrosive environments. Wrist watches worn by factory workers and construction workers are especially liable to damage.
Conventional pocket watches obviate some of these problems, but present other problems of their own. A pocket watch is typically attached to a belt by a fob which forms a dangling loop that could be a hazard in many occupations. Further, reading and replacing a pocket watch cannot be as quickly and conveniently done as is desirable.
There are several devices in the prior art for pivotally mounting and protecting watches. However, none of the following prior art devices disclose the unique features of the instant invention, which provides for both protection and convenient viewing of an ordinary wrist watch.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,182,194 to Blau discloses a protective case for a watch, comprising a base and a hinged cover on which the watch is fixed. However, there is not disclosed any convenient means for mounting a conventional wrist watch on such a case, by utilizing the watches conventional strap and strap pins. Further, although the Blau disclosure mentions the possibility of pivotally mounting the watch on the cover, in order to make the watch stem more accessible, there is no disclosure of the particular arrangement of hinged mounting of the present invention, in which the watch is hingedly mounted to the cover at the end opposite the covers hinged mounting to the base. This arrangement, not disclosed by Blau, permits the watch to be extended further from the base, thereby providing for easier viewing.
Several other U.S. Patents disclose devices for mounting a watch on a belt, having various pivoting arrangements, but without any protective enclosure. Included in this group are the following patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,509,428, to Greene; 1,479,008, to Powers; 2,551,515, to Tschirf; 3,214,685, to Brenner.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that will permit an ordinary wrist watch to be attached to a belt, protected from damage, easily pulled out for reading, and automatically retracted to a protected position.